First Round of 2024 NFL Draft Breaks Records

April 26, 2024 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

The 2024 NFL Draft started off with Caleb Williams, the USC QB and 2022 Heisman winner, being selected by the Chicago Bears as the No.1 over-all pick. After that, records began to fall.

Six of the first 12 picks were quarterbacks, and the first fourteen picks were all position players from the offense side of the ball. Both of those numbers set records for a single NFL Draft.

Only once before had six quarterbacks been selected in the first round of a draft, and that was way back in 1983 when Dan Marino was the 27th over-all pick out of a round of 28 selections. The other QB's taken that year were John Elway and Jim Kelly, along with Todd Blackledge, Tony Eason and Ken O'Brien.

But if you think that selecting a possible franchise QB makes you a lock to win a Super Bowl, the answer is 'no, but it doesn't hurt'. The 1983 QB haul appeared in 11 Super Bowls, but won just two of those. Kelly and the Bills infamously lost four straight Super Bowls, from the 1990 season through the 1993 season. Elway got both of the Super Bowls wins out of that group and he didn't get those until his final two seasons in the league (1997 and 1998).

By the way, five of the six quarterbacks this year were selected among the first 10 picks - that had also never occurred before, Four of those QB's were among the first eight picks to set an all-time NFL record.

The six QB's this year began with Williams, and then saw Washington follow Chicago by taking Jayden Daniels of LSU. New England took UNC QB Drake Maye out of North Carolina with the third pick. After that, Michael Penix Jr. of Washington was a surprise pick at No. 8 by the Atlanta Falcons. The Vikings, via a trade swap with the NY Jets, took JJ McCarthy at No. 10 over-all. Bo Nix became the sixth and the final QB taken in the round when he went with the No. 12 selection to the Denver Broncos.

That leaves South Carolina QB Spencer Rattler as the next expected quarterback to find a NFL home.

Never before had their been a Super Bowl that began with 14 straight picks from just one side of the line of scrimmage.

Seven receivers were also taken in the first round, which hadn't happened since 2004.

Over-all twenty-three offense players were taken, setting another all-time "merger era" era.

Worth noting is that Caleb Williams became the sixth USC player chosen with the No. 1 over-all pick, but the first since Carson Palmer in 2003. The other top picks from the Trojans were Ron Yary (1968), O.J. Simpson (1969), Ricky Bell (1977) and Keyshawn Johnson (1996),

NFL Draft - First Round

• 1: Chicago Bears - QB Caleb Williams, USC
• 2: Washington Commanders - QB Jayden Daniels, LSU
• 3: New England Patriots - QB Drake Maye, North Carolina
• 4: Arizona Cardinals - WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio Stat
• 5: Los Angeles Chargers - OT Joe Alt, Notre Dame
• 6: New York Giants - WR Malik Nabers, LSU
• 7: Tennessee Titans - OT JC Latham, Alabama
• 8: Atlanta Falcons - QB Michael Penix Jr., Washington
• 9: Chicago Bears - WR Rome Odunze, Washington 
• 10: Minnesota Vikings - QB J.J. McCarthy, Michigan (via pick swap with the Jets)
• 11: New York Jets - OT Olumuyiwa Fashanu, Penn State
• 12: Denver Broncos - QB Bo Nix, Oregon
• 13: Las Vegas Raiders - TE Brock Bowers, Georgia
• 14: New Orleans Saints - OT Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State
• 15: Indianapolis Colts - DE Laiatu Latu, UCLA
• 16: Seattle Seahawks - DL Byron Murphy, Texas
• 17: Minnesota Vikings - DE Dallas Turner, Alabama (via trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars)
• 18: Cincinnati Bengals - OT Amarius Mims, Georgia
• 19: Los Angeles Rams - DE Jared Verse, Florida State
• 20: Pittsburgh Steelers - OL Troy Fautanu, Washington
• 21: Miami Dolphins - DE Chop Robinson, Penn State
• 22: Philadelphia Eagles  - CB Quinyon Mitchell, Toledo
• 23: Jacksonville Jaguars - WR Brian Thomas Jr., LSU
• 24: Detroit Lions - CB Terrion Arnold, Alabama (via trade with Cowboys)
• 25: Green Bay Packers - OT Jordan Morgan, Arizona
• 26: Tampa Bay Buccaneers - OL Graham Barton, Duke
• 27: Arizona Cardinals - DL Darius Robinson, Missouri
• 28 28: Kansas City Chiefs - WR Xavier Worthy, Texas (via trade with Bills)
• 30: Baltimore Ravens - CB Nate Wiggins, Clemson
• 31: San Francisco 49ers - WR Ricky Pearsall, Florida
• 32: Carolina Panthers - WR Xavier Legette, South Carolina (via trade with the Bills)

Rounds 2 and 3 of the draft begin tonight (Friday) at 7 p.m., with the final four rounds beginning at Noon on Saturday.